COSTA MESA, CA. – David L. Boyd, a Trustee serving on the Orange County Board of Education, will request at the May meeting of the Board a briefing by legal counsel on what constitutes a hostile work environment as well as an investigation into the conduct of another trustee.

This request is a result of an e-mail written by Trustee Robert Hammond in April 2014 to an employee of the Orange County Department of Education where Hammond wrote “I hope you don’t mind, but I plan on asking you about your sexual orientation publicly during our next board meeting.” The email was recently made public as a result of a public records request. Continue reading→

On Monday, a preliminary hearing will begin in the criminal case against former OC Public Works executive Carlos Bustamante. Mr. Bustamante is charged with 12 felony counts for alleged conduct between 2003 and 2011 when he worked for the County, including sexual assault, false imprisonment and stalking.

Preliminary hearings are held in criminal cases to determine if there is enough evidence to justify taking the defendant to trial on the charges. You will very likely be reading and hearing reports about the hearing, including comments and opinions about the County, its policies and procedures, and specific County employees, either past or current. We expect that all of the victims will be testifying. Continue reading→

I got a tip yesterday from an anonymous source who said that the Santa Ana Police Department is dealing with a harassment scandal that will dwarf what happened when former Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante got arrested after allegedly harassing women at his workplace at the County of Orange.

According to my source, a female SAPD commander was locked out of the SAPD HQ after numerous complaints about her behavior with other female cops. Continue reading→

A Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied Voice of OC’s request under the California Public Records Act for documents showing what top county officials knew when they allowed former executive Carlos Bustamante to quietly resign in October 2011, months before District Attorney Tony Rackauckas charged Bustamante with a dozen felony sex crimes against female employees.

In turning down the request, Judge David McEachen wrote that his civil court “has no power” to overturn a June 24 protective order issued by a criminal court hearing Bustamante’s case. Continue reading→

A brave young man named Ángel Juárez, of CopWatch Santa Ana, showed up near a Santa Ana school on Dec. 18, with a video camera after reports had come his way that a local Santa Ana school policeman was harassing young Latinos. Sure enough the police officer pulled over a car and the cameraman began filming the action.

The police officer quickly called in backup and it got ugly. The other police officers kept asking why the young man was in front of a school with a camera when it was pretty obvious he was there to catch a harassing cop in action.

There were five cops at the scene before long and they were all very intimidating as you will see in the video above. The cameraman and his friends were ultimately detained for “suspicious activity” and searched, over their objections. Continue reading→

“County executive manager Carlos Bustamante, the target of an internal investigation into accusations that he had sexual encounters with his employees, resigned from his ($178,000) job Tuesday afternoon,” according to the O.C. Register.

The Register article hinted that others in Bustamante’s department might still be on the hot seat, which makes sense given California’s tough anti-harassment laws. If it can be proven that Bustamante’s superiors covered up for his alleged behavior, or looked the other way, more heads will surely roll.

The Voice of OC reported on Sep. 16, that Santa Ana Councilman and County of Orange Public Works Administrator Carlos Bustamante, “who first began working at the county in 2000, was placed on administrative leave this week after county officials received what they considered credible reports that he was talking to potential female witnesses in the probe, sources confirmed Friday.”

The Voice of OC also reported that “The feeling among senior officials in the county administration is that Bustamante will not return to work for the county, according to sources close to the investigation.”

I heard yesterday from a source that has connections both at the County of Orange and at Santa Ana’s City Hall. She said that her sources were telling her that Bustamante is ultimately going to be charged with tampering with witnesses, which means that the senior officials who talked to the Voice of OC are correct – Bustamante is likely toast. Continue reading→

What penalties does Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante face – if the harassment charges against him stick? Well, the bad news for him is that the harassment penalties in California are the toughest in the nation – and he could face big fines – but the County of Orange could be on the hook for even bigger penalties, as his employer.